Chelsea Clinton, America’s poster child for intermarriage, announced on Thursday that she is pregnant.

Chelsea, the daughter of former president Bill Clinton, married Marc Mezvinsky, in a much publicized ceremony run by a Reform (nebech) rabbi and a Methodist minister, effectively pruning away that 3300 year old Jewish branch of the Mezvinsky family.

Though since her husband married out of the Jewish people, effectively making him the final link in a formerly unbroken Jewish chain, Clinton is certainly using a very open-ended definition of the word “practicing”.

“The problem of assimilation among American Jews is not only an American problem, it’s our problem, too. There’s an ocean of ceremonies and an ocean of people eager to conduct ceremonies. Chelsea Clinton married a Jewish guy. I’m not arguing the legitimacy of it, you’re free to think what you want. But do you want me to recognize Chelsea Clinton’s child as a Jew? You want me to recognize the rabbi who officiated at her wedding as a rabbi? Are you trying to push intermarriage through my back door?”

17 COMMENTS

I was born to a Catholic mother and a Jewish father, but chose Judaism as an adult. It took me a while to overcome some of the negative experiences that I had with people like Rabbi Stav. Shouldn’t we try to embrace the children of Jewish heritage, and not condemn them? Maybe then they will (like me) come back into the Jewish fold.

Her child is NOT Jewish! Jewish law says a Jew is born to Jewish mother or converted according to Halacha. Reform and Conservative conversions are meaningless and I met converts who had to undergo a real conversion after a Reform one because they saw Reform’s falsehood. Shame on Mark Mezvinsky for marrying that non Jewish daughter of vile Jew haters.

Rabbi, as I remember; the phrase in the Torah regarding a most similar situation simply said ” your people shall be my people”.Nothing was mentioned regarding conversion. All of today’s niceties are merely rabbinic laws adapted to suit whatever the local rabbi deemed proper.The ten commandments never defined “who is a JEW”. Orthodoxy in it’s myriad varieties tries very hard to do so.

Uzi, there was hidden Jewry in family and I am a conservative Jew that went through the conversion process in the United States and I attend a conservative synagogue. Being Jewish through the mother was not always this way in Judaism. I understand your response but even in the Torah their were non-Jewish spouses and you should know this. We must follow the teachings of the Torah and denying that the child is a Jew is wrong. I am a Jew before G_d and this is what is important in my faith and living by the Torah.

I happen to know the daughter of a woman who is of a Jewish father and a gentile mother, who converted. still the daughter married a Jewish man, but it didnt last, and has had much sorrow in her life, so there could be something in when marrying outside the faith, that it carries on through generations.

I can state very clear that the reform Rabbi that conduct the marriage ceremony, is not a rabbi by Jewish law . and the child she carry is not Jewish and never will be, unless she fully converted to Judaism by Orthodox Rabbi.

Traditional Judaism, unlike Christianity – chose to maintain its uniqueness by maintaining it’s own identifiable language – Hebrew. Unlike Christianity that chose to give up Latin. Judaism, Traditional Judaism has chosen to maintain – to the best of its ability, without rewriting and without deliberately dropping, any biblical law. Unlike other religions that may share or borrow from the Jewish original Bible…and may have chosen to add to, or leave out, or change, the ORIGINAL – Traditional Judaism prides itself on keeping to the original. While Judaism does not deny the right of others to practice their religions, some offshoots do try to not only deny – but obliterate any relics, writings, or architecture that would lend credence to any other belief system having ever existed. Blowing up the mountains side to destroy the chiseled face of a variant religious figure is part of the agenda of some. Judaism has no need or desire to destroy or deny other faiths…no reason to. Along these lines, for Traditional Judaism to accomplish her goals of maintaining and adhering as close as possible to the laws set out in the Original Old Testament…issues of lineage and conversions, interfaith marriage, assimilation are addressed AS PER the understandings of the Old Testament…Torah…and of the rabbis.

Though the views and beliefs of 2014 may conflict with the views and beliefs of Torah…choosing to NOT betray the OLD in favor of the CONTEMPORARY have and always will cause resentment with those who do not understand – . those who choose to adhere to, keep alive and continue traditional Judaism, have no reason to apologize. Anymore than the Pope has to explain why he wears a kippah!!

I have no problem with orthodox Jews not recognizing their FUTURE child (The headline flies in the face of halacha, because there IS no child yet, since halacha does not consider a fetus to be a human being until the head emerges from the womb.) as Jewish.

But who asked orthodox Jews to do so?

NOBODY!

So why posture as if the Clintons or anyone else seek such recognition from the orthodox community?

To evoke it seems petty.

My issue is not if the child they’re GOING to have will be Jewish. Obviously, it won’t be.